Poll

Government

He served as treasurer since 2000, when he filled the unfinished term of Mary Alice Belk. His father, Richard Rowell, served as Lancaster County treasurer for 20 years. Rowell Jr. was 12 when his father first ran for the treasurer's office.

There will be at least one county resident running as a Democrat for the open District 16 state Senate seat.
Lancaster resident Ronald Griffin filed to run Friday afternoon, said Gil Small, chairman of the Lancaster County Democratic Party.
Griffin joins Fort Mill accountant Keith Brann as the only Democrats to file. On the Republican side, nearly 10 people have either filed or are believed to be considering a bid.
Filing for the seat ends at noon Monday.

County Council unanimously approved first reading of an ordinance to establish the Indian Land Fire Protection District on Tuesday.
Several members of the Indian Land Action Council attended the meeting and later cheered council’s unanimous decision.
“A fire department should be equally supported by everyone in their service district – both residential and commercial,” said Jan Tacy, secretary of the action council, during the public comment period of the meeting.

Infrastructure improvements rank high on the list of focal points for leaders in the southern part of Lancaster County.
Heath Springs Mayor Ann Taylor and Kershaw Mayor Wayne Rhodes discuss strides their towns have made in 2010 and what lies ahead in 2011.Kershaw
Rhodes said the town of Kershaw will continue to make incremental improvements to its wastewater treatment plant in the new year.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – With his right hand raised, and standing next to his three children on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, Mick Mulvaney took the congressional oath of office Wednesday afternoon.
After a morning of celebrating with family, friends and constituents, Mulvaney joined 96 other freshman House delegates to become a member of the country’s 112th Congress. The oath was taken only minutes after Mulvaney cast his vote for the newest Speaker of the House, Rep. John Boehner, a Republican from Ohio.

Hugh Mobley and Greg Gregory have switched roles.
Gregory, who served as the District 16 state senator for 15 years, will once again seek the seat.
He had been a supporter of Mobley, a Lancaster pharmacist who was the first person to announce his candidacy for the post after Mick Mulvaney was elected to the 5th District congressional seat. But now, Mobley has suspended his campaign and has
pledged to support Gregory.

County Council heard Tuesday from a Kershaw Town Council member and another county resident who are upset by council’s handling of an economic development ordinance concerning a proposed landfill.
The comments were the first public outcry against the ordinance, code-named Project December and approved over several special meetings in December.

No empty seats were in sight. Visitors lined the walls inside council chambers, while dozens of others packed the lobby.
Officials said they had never seen Lancaster City Hall more crowded before.
Nearly 200 people came out Tuesday night for the swearing-in ceremony for four City Council members and Harlean Howard as the new police chief.
Many of the people on hand were there to support Howard, who is the first woman to head the Lancaster Police Department.

Job announcements, the arrival of new businesses, improvements to fire insurance ratings, the collection of Census data and construction on two county courthouses were all issues that County Council dealt with in 2010.
Several council members, as well as the county administrator, recently examined the county’s milestones and struggles from the past year, while casting an eye toward 2011.